The Reaping (Rev. 14:19-20)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/29/2015 12:13 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                         Focus:  The Reaping

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Rev. 14:19-20

            Message of the verses:  “19 So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. 20 And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.”

            The first thing I want to do is give a rather long quote from Hal Lindsey who became kind of famous from his first book “The Late Great Planet Earth,” and I was listening to some tape messages by him in Jan. of 1974 when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord.  He also wrote a book entitled “There Is A New World Coming” which is his commentary on the book of Revelation, and this quote comes from that book.  He entitles this sub-section “Messiah to Jerusalem’s Rescue,” and he writes “The armies of all nations will be gathered in the area of Israel, especially around Jerusalem.  Think of it: at least 200 million soldiers from the Orient, with millions more from the forces of the West headed by the Antichrist of the Revised Roman Empire (Western Europe)!  Messiah Jesus will first strike those who have ravaged His city, Jerusalem.  Then He will strike the armies amassed in the valley of Megiddo, or Armageddon. No wonder blood will stand to the horses’ bridles for a distance of two hundred miles from Jerusalem! (Revelation 14:20).

            “It’s grizzly to think about such a carnage, but just to check all this out I measured from the point where the Valley of Armageddon slopes down to the Jordan Valley.  From that point southward down the Valley through the Dead Sea to the port of Elath on the Gulf of Aqabah measures approximately two hundred miles.  Apparently this whole valley will be filled with war materials, animals, bodies of men and blood!

            “Let the nations of the world be warned!  Let those who attack the believing remnant of Israel in the last days take heed, for the Lord says of Israel, ‘After the glory He has sent Me (The Messiah) against the nations who persecuted and plundered you, for anyone who touches you, touches the apple of God’s eye’ (Zechariah 2:8).”  (End quote)

The things that are in the above quote are the results of what happened when the angel swung his sickle to the earth and as we see it will be catastrophic to say the least.  What we are talking about here is pictured in John’s vision as grapes going into a wine press in order to get the juice out of the grapes and this pictures vividly the splattering of the juice as the grapes are stomped out.  Now again what is being pictured here is what will be going on when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back to earth which is described in chapter nineteen of Revelation, and as mentioned He will come back when the full furry of the battle of Armageddon is going on, nations fighting against nation, but when they look up to see the Lord return they will stop fighting against each other and begin to fight against the Lord and the armies that will return with Him.  The following is what is written about this in Revelation 19:11-21 “   11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." 17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, "Come, assemble for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great." 19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. 20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.”

John MacArthur writes “Putting the scene in this chapter together with that of chapter 19, while the angel cuts the grapes, it is the Lord Jesus Christ who crushes out their lives.

“Unregenerate humanity faces a frightening future, as this incredible scene indicates.  Those who refuse to repent, even after repeated warnings, will learn firsthand the sobering truth that ‘it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God’ (Heb. 10:31).  They would do well to heed the psalmist’s admonition:  “Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”

As we look at what will happen it is still hard to understand all of the carnage that will be going on during this absolutely horrible time on planet a time so horrible that Jesus said in “Mt 24:22 “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”  We know the truth of this and it is up to us to tell others about this truth so that they will not have the potential of going through this horrible time that is coming soon as we have learned in our study of Revelation, for this is the next thing to happen as far as prophetic truth.

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am compelled to tell others of the things that will soon take place as John says in Rev. 1:3 “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.”

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I pray that all who read this will tell others of this truth and they in turn will tell still others of this truth.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Milk” (1 Corinthians 9:7).

Today’s Bible question:  “What was a custom of Jesus at Nazareth on the Sabbath?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/29/2015 12:54 PM

The Grape Harvest PT-1 (Rev. 14:17-20)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/28/2015 8:02 AM

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  The Grape Harvest  PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                     Reference:  Revelation 14:17-20

            Message of the verses:  “17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18  Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe." 19 So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. 20 And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.”

            We mentioned that the sub-sections for this harvest will be the same as those of the grain harvest so we will first be looking at the reaper, then the ripeness, and finally the reaping. It is doubtful we will get to look at all of these in this SD.

            John MacArthur writes the following as a way of introduction to this subject:  “The vision of the grain harvest is followed by the vision of the grape harvest, which does not speak of the bowl judgments but of the judgment that takes place at the battle of Armageddon.  The vintage judgment is more dramatic because of the imagery of the winepress.”

            The Reaper (Revelation 14:17):  “17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle.” 

            Unlike the grain harvest the reaper in this vision is not the Son of Man, but is an angel which is the fifth one mentioned in this 14^th chapter of Revelation.  The angel comes out of the temple which is heaven which is like we saw the fourth angel come as described in verse 15.  Just as Christ had a sharp sickle so this fifth angel also has a sharp sickle too.  As we have been studying the book of Revelation we have seen that angels have prominent roles in what is going on in this book.  We will remember that it was angels who summoned the four horsemen, and they also sounded the seven trumpet judgments and also defeating Satan and his demon hosts.  There will be angels who will pour out the last judgments, the bowl judgments as we will see eventually when we study chapter sixteen.  An angel will announce the Battle of Armageddon “Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, "Come, assemble for the great supper of God (Rev. 19:17).”  It will also be an angel who will bind Satan after Christ returns to the earth “1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time (Rev. 20:1-3).”  Angels will also assist the Lord Jesus Christ in His final judgment:  “and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels (Matthew 13:39).”  “"So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous (Matthew 13 49).”  “And to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire (2 Thess. 2:7).”

            The Ripeness (Rev. 14:18):  “18  Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.’”

            We now look at the sixth angel that is mentioned in the 14^th chapter and as it is written this angel has power over fire and he came out from the altar.  John MacArthur writes “That title is closely connected with the fact that he came out from the altar.  This heavenly altar has already been mentioned in 6:9-11:  ‘9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" 11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.’  It most likely is emblematic of the Old Testament brass incense altar (Ex. 40:5), where twice daily priests burned incense to be offered in the Holy Place as a picture of the people’s prayers, since the martyrs underneath it are view praying and prayer is associated with incense (5:8; Ps 141:2; Luke 1:10).  Those martyred saints are praying for God to take vengeance on their tormenters and send His wrath. 

            “The altar is also described in 8:3-5:  ‘3 Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.’  Every morning and evening the Old Testament priests would take hot coals from the brazen altar (upon which sacrifices were offered) and bring them to the incense altar.  There they would ignite the incense (Ex. 30:7-8; 2 Chron. 29:11), which would rise toward heaven, symbolizing the prayers of God’s people (5:8).  At that same time, the people outside would be praying (Luke 1:10).”

            “Mt 6:10 ’Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.  Lu 11:2 And He said to them, "When you pray, say: ’Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.”  Remember these verses as being a part of what we call the Lord ’s Prayer when actually it should be called the Disciple’s prayer, well I think as we look at what is going on in Revelation 14:18 we see that this prayer is being answered as John MacArthur explains:  “That angel had power over the altar’s fire (the definite article is present in the Greek text, which literally reads ‘the fire’) indicates that he had been ministering at the heavenly counterpart to the earthly incense altar.  Unlike the angel in verse 17, this angel does not come from the throne of God, but from the altar associated with the prayers of the saints.  His appearance means that the time had come for those prayers to be answered.  The time had come for God to take fire associated with intercession and use it for the destruction of His enemies and the enemies of His people.” 

            Now as we look at this passage we can see the unrepentant sinners are the grapes that are on the vine mentioned in this passage, and they are cut off with the sharp sickle of the angel.  We mentioned in our last SD about the word ripe as meaning over ripe or even rotten and I gave an illustration from my childhood days of working on the farm.  Well the illustration of that story goes better with this word ripe for this word refers to something fully ripe and in its prime as it pictures the earth’s wicked and unregenerate people as bursting with the juice of wickedness which is ready to come to harvest.

            We will save the last sub-section, the reaping for our last SD in the 14^th chapter of Revelation, a chapter that we began on the 5^th of July, a chapter that is very important in better understanding about angels and also their role in judgment, the final judgment that will come upon this earth when it is ripe for being harvested.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As a believer in Jesus Christ and as being a part of His church there are times when my prayers reflect on the Lord saving people as it should, but there are also times on praying like the souls under the altar that God would judge the sinful people who are causing great harm to the people of the Lord.  As I reflect upon some of the things that I have been learning from the book of Revelation I believe that both prayers will be answered.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to give me the wisdom on how to pray.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “He struck the rock instead of speaking to it” (Numbers 20:7-13).

Today’s Bible question:  “What does on eat who feeds the flock?” 

Answer in our next SD.

7/28/2015 8:56 AM

PT-2 of the Grain Harvest (Rev. 14:15-16)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/27/2015 8:22 AM

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:  PT-2 of the Grain Harvest

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 14:15-16

            Message of the verses:  In Today’s Spiritual Diary we will be looking at the second and third sub-sections of the “Grain Harvest.”  We looked at who the Reaper was in our last SD and found out it was the Lord Jesus Christ, and we also found out that these last verses of chapter fourteen contained two different times of harvest, the grain harvest, and the grape harvest.  Next we found out that as we will be looking at these different harvests the grain harvest represents the last judgments or the bowl judgments, while the grape harvest represents Armageddon.  Lastly we found out that each of these harvest can be described with the same sub-points, the reaper, the ripeness, and the reaping. 

            The Ripeness (Revelation 14:15):  “15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, "Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.’”

            The angel mentioned in this verse is the fourth angel that is mentioned in chapter fourteen as we remember an angel was also mentioned in verses 6, 8, and 9.  As promised we are seeing many of the things that are done in the book of Revelation are done by angels, both good and bad.  When we looked at the first three angels we saw judgment coming while this angel speaks of the execution of that judgment.  Next we see that the angel came out of the heavenly temple, the temple in heaven and he announces the judgment to begin in a loud voice.  We have spoken of loud things happening in the book of Revelation in earlier SD’s, and so this is another thing that happens that is loud, and this conveys both urgency and power, and also the authority that was delegated to this angel from God.  As we further look at the verse the angel cried out “to Him who sat on the cloud, ‘Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.’”  Now this messages comes from God the Father and is then delivered to God the Son and that message is to commence the judgment.  I know that when we get to the word “ripe” and explain the meaning of that word that it is a bit different than the example that I am about to give, but I want to give this example anyway.  When I was a teenager I worked on different farms to help the farmers bring in some of their crops, mostly helping with the bailing of hay and then straw at times too.  When the hay is cut it has to lie in the field for a while in order to have it dry out a bit before it can be put into bails, for if it is bailed too early and put into the barn it can actually get so hot in the barn that it can burn the barn down, so it is important for the farmer to know when the hay is ready to be bailed.  As far as the grain the farmer has to know exactly when he can harvest it and he will take a sample of the grain to have it tested to see how much moisture is in it, and when that is right the grain is ready to be harvested.  We will see that the earth is actually past ready to be harvested for it is over ripe which is what the meaning of that word means, and we can attribute that to the grace of God.  I have given the example of what we find in Genesis 15:16 in many of my Spiritual Diaries and that verse says “"Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete."”  God is speaking to Abraham telling him that his offspring will go into Egypt and then come back to the land he was living in at that time and one of the reasons that it will take 400 years for them to return is that the iniquity of the Amorite people is not yet complete, we could say it is not yet ripe for harvesting.  God has waited a very long time to judge the world, and as we see in this verse it is time for that judgment to come for the iniquity of those unbelievers living on the earth at that time will be complete or ripe.

            We have mentioned that Jesus came the first time to planet earth as a Savior and as a Servant, but this time He will come as a judge to exercise the right to judge that the Father has delegated to Him.  Let us look at John 5:22 and then 27 and then we will look at Acts 10:42 and 17:31.  “22  "For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son,”  “27  and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.”  “42 “And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.”  “31  because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."”

            John MacArthur write the following on the word ripe:  “In fact the verb translated ‘is ripe’ actually means ‘dried up,’ ‘withered,’ ‘overripe,’ or ‘rotten.’  The grain (the earth) pictured here has passed the point of any usefulness and is fit only to be ‘gathered up and burned with fire’ (Matthew 13:40).”

            The Reaping (Revelation 14:16):  “16 Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.”

            I think that it is best that I quote the paragraph that John MacArthur has written for this verse in his commentary.  “Here is one of the most tragic and sobering statements in all of Scripture.  Simply, and without fanfare, it records the executing of divine judgment.  The frightening details of that judgment are unfolded in chapter 16:  loathsome and malignant sores on the worshipers of Antichrist (v. 2), the death of all life in the world’s oceans (v. 3), the turning of the world’s rivers and springs of water into blood (v 4), the intensifying of the sun’s heat until it scorches people (v 8), painful darkness over all of the Antichrist’s kingdom (v 10), the drying up of the Euphrates River in preparation for a massive invasion by the kings of the east (v 12), and the most powerful destructive earthquake in history (v 18).  Those seven rapid-fire bowl judgments mark the first phase of the final reaping of the earth.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have mentioned the following verse from 2 Peter in this section in other SD’s but it is good to use it for this one too.  Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness.”  (2 Peter 3:11)

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Remembering what kind of person I should be as seen in the verse above, I pray that I will be that kind of person.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “John.”

Today’s Bible question:  “How did Moses disobey God when the water came from the rock at Meribah?”

  Answer in our next SD.

7/27/2015 9:05 AM

The Grain Harvest (Rev. 14:14-16)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/26/2015 9:25 PM

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus:  The Grain Harvest

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Revelation 14:14-16

            Message of the verses:  “14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, "Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe." 16 Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.”

            The following are three verses which have the words “one like a son of man” in them:  Da 7:13  "I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him.  Re 1:13 and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. Re 14:14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.”  Now it is interesting that we see this phrase and not the phrase “the Son of man” for that phrase is found in the NT when Jesus walked upon the earth some 80 times in the NASB.

            When we look at the grain harvest we see that it represents the upcoming bowl judgments while the grape harvest represents Armageddon.  And we see that there is a sickle in both of the harvests.  John MacArthur writes “both [harvests] can be described by the same three points:  the reaper, the ripeness and the reaping.”   We will only look at the reaper which is found in verse fourteen in this SD and then will look at the “ripeness” and the reaping in our next SD, and then we will be looking at the grape harvest’s same three points in the SD after our next SD.

            The Reaper:  “14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.”

            We have gone over the fact that when we read “I looked, and behold,” we see that John is introducing a new subject which he is here.  This phrase is seen also in 4:1; 6:2, 5, 8; 7:9; 14:1.  John’s attention was the “white cloud” something he probably was familiar from reading Daniel 7:13-14 “13 "I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. 14 “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.”

            “One like a Son of Man” is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ who is coming to establish His kingdom which will fulfill what we see in Daniel’s prophecy.  The white cloud symbolizes His glory and also His majesty as seen in Rev. 1:7 “BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.”  Matthew 17:5; 24:30; 26:64; and Acts 1:9 also speak of this.  Let’s look at Acts 1:9 “And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.”  Later on an angel speaks to His disciples and says to them:  “"Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."”  As mentioned the Lord Jesus was waiting for His time to come back to earth as prophesized by Daniel and that time will be right after the seven bowl judgments.

            As we go back to wondering why the definite article is not used in the phrase “one like a son of man” John MacArthur writes “Why the text does not use the definite article and read the son of man is not clear.  Yet the phrase also appears without a definite article in its only other appearances in Revelation.”  We have already looked at those from the book of Revelation.  He goes on to write “Perhaps the article was omitted to strengthen the allusion to Daniel 7:13.  In any case, there is no doubt that the one like a son of man is the Lord Jesus Christ.  This is the last time Scripture refers to Him by that title, and it presents a marked contrast with the first time the New Testament calls Him the ‘son of man.’  Then He had nothing, not even a place to lay His head (Matt. 8:20); now He is about to take possession of the entire earth.” 

            We also see Him described as having a golden crown on His head, but that crown is not the crown of a king, but the crown of a victor in either war or in an athletic event.  When Jesus returns to earth He will be a conquering hero as He will rid the earth of all sinners including Satan, the Antichrist, the False prophet, and also all those who have not named the name of Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

            The Reaper also had a “sharp sickle” in his hand.  When I was a boy one of our neighbors has a long sharp sickle that I would sometime use to cut down some high weeds.  We also had a smaller one, something I still have, and this was used something like a weed-whacker is used today, with the exception it was a lot harder to use.  Sickles were used in the days when Jesus was on the earth to cut down the wheat or other grain and then it was taken into a threshing floor where the grain was separated from the chaff.  Jesus will be doing this type of harvesting as seen in this section, but this section speaks of harvesting sinful men and not grain.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The prophetic Word from the OT will be fulfilled in this NT passage and this strengthens my faith that God’s plan will be fulfilled as He prophesied in His Word.  This gives encouragement that all things He has prophesied will also come true.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord, with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Rahab” (Joshua 6:25).

Today’s Bible question:  “What New Testament book begins with the words ‘In the beginning?’”

Answer in our nest SD.

7/26/2015 10:06 PM

Introduction to Rev. 14:14-20 (Rev. 14: 14-20)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/25/2015 8:39 AM

My Worship Time                                                               Focus:  Introduction to Rev. 14:14-20

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Rev. 14:14-20

                 Message of the verses:  “14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, "Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe." 16 Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped. 17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18  Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe." 19 So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. 20 And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.”

                 As we look at these verses we will see that they are about the judgment at the end of the Tribulation period, a judgment that is seen in different parts of the Bible, some of them we will look at today.  First let us compare the first coming of Jesus Christ to the earth with the second coming of Him to the earth at the end of the Tribulation period.  First we can look at a section from the book of Philippians, a section that speaks of the humiliation of our Savior when He first came to planet earth:  “6 Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  (Phil. 2:6-8)

                 John MacArthur summarizes the two appearances of Jesus Christ to planet earth:  “Jesus came the first time as a servant; He will return as the sovereign King.  In His first coming, He came in humility; in His second coming, He will come in majesty and splendor.  The first time He came to earth, ‘the Son of Man [came] to seek and to save that which was lost’ (Luke 19:10); when He returns, to will be to ‘judge the living and the dead’ (2 Tim. 4:1).  Jesus came the first time as the sower; He will come again as the reaper.”  As we begin to study these verses from the book of Revelation we could say that the theme of them is reaping, reaping the lost who, although they have had time to repent, they have not and now judgment is coming to them.  We can even say that what we are looking at in this passage can be defined as “The Day of the Lord,” and this is not the only place where this is spoken of in the Word of God.

                 Let us take a look at some of the verses in the Word of God that speak of this time of judgment beginning with what John the Baptist said in Matthew 3:7b “"You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”  We can see here that John knew of the judgment that would come upon the earth.  Next we can look at some of the things that Jesus said about this coming judgment:  Matthew 10:15 “"Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.’”  Matthew 11:22 and 24 “22 “Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.”  “24  "Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you."”  Matthew 12:36 and 41-42 “36  "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.”  “41 “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42  "The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”  John 5:28-29 “28  "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, 29  and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”  Romans 1:18 “18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,” and Romans 2:5-6 “5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”  2 Thessalonians 1:6-9 “6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.”  Hebrews 10:26-27 “26  For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27  but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES.”  Next we will look at 2 Peter 2:9 and also 3:7 “9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,”  “7 But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”

                 Now we will look at some OT verses that speak of this judgment:  Isaiah 13:11-13 “light. 11 Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless. 12 I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold And mankind than the gold of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place At the fury of the LORD of hosts In the day of His burning anger.”  Next Isaiah 24:21-23 “21 So it will happen in that day, That the LORD will punish the host of heaven on high, And the kings of the earth on earth. 22 They will be gathered together Like prisoners in the dungeon, And will be confined in prison; And after many days they will be punished. 23 Then the moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed, For the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, And His glory will be before His elders.”

                 John MacArthur writes that “Two Old Testament passages present striking parallels with Revelation 14.  Isaiah 63:1-6 records a fascinating soliloquy of Messiah as He comes to execute the bloody final judgment of the unbelieving world:  ‘1 Who is this who comes from Edom, With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, This One who is majestic in His apparel, Marching in the greatness of His strength? "It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save." 2 Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press? 3 “I have trodden the wine trough alone, And from the peoples there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger And trampled them in My wrath; And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, And I stained all My raiment. 4 “For the day of vengeance was in My heart, And My year of redemption has come. 5 "I looked, and there was no one to help, And I was astonished and there was no one to uphold; So My own arm brought salvation to Me, And My wrath upheld Me. 6  "I trod down the peoples in My anger And made them drunk in My wrath, And I poured out their lifeblood on the earth."

                 “This passage, like Revelation 14:19-20, uses the metaphor of trampling grapes in a winepress to depict the devastation of God’s final judgment.”

                 “The prophet Joel recorded the devastation caused in Israel by drought, fire, and a massive invasion of locusts (Joel 1:1-2:11).   Then the prophet used those temporal judgments to warn of even more devastating judgment of the Day of the Lord (2:18-3:21).  In Joel 3:12-13 that judgment is described using the same imagery found in Revelation 14:  ‘12 Let the nations be aroused And come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, For there I will sit to judge All the surrounding nations. 13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full; The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.’”

                 Next we want to look at a parable that the Lord gave in the book of Matthew about the wheat and the tares.  It is found in Matthew chapter 13 and after the parallel is given the disciples asked the Lord to explain it and He said the following in Matthew 13:39-42 “39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. 40 “So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. 41  "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42  and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

                 John MacArthur concludes his introductory commentary with the following paragraph which gives us the outline we will follow as we conclude this 14^th chapter of the book of Revelation, a chapter we began to look at on the 5^th of July.  “This passage pictures the final harvest of divine wrath in two agricultural motifs:  the grain harvest (vv. 14-16) and the grape harvest (vv. 17-20), raising the question as to why John recorded two visions of the same event.  There are many depictions of this event by the prophets, including those mentioned above, so it is not unusual for John to record two visions of it.  But there is also a specific situation at this point in the book of Revelation that suggests a purpose behind the repetition.  As the Tribulation nears its climax, two main aspects of God’s eschatological wrath remain to be poured out on the sinful world.  The first aspect involves the seven bowl judgments 16:1-21), a rapid-fire sequence of frightening and deadly worldwide judgments that will destroy the final Babylon—the Antichrist’s empire.  The second aspect in the Battle of Armageddon, at which point Jesus Christ returns to judge and destroy His enemies (19:11-21).”

                 Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I can’t help but look again at a verse from the book of Second Peter who after writing that there will come a day when the entire universe will be burned up with fire he writes “11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12  looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!”

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To live that way that Peter describes.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Italy” (Acts 27:6).

Today’s Bible question:  “What woman and her family were saved when Jericho was destroyed?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/25/2015 10:08 AM

                

How They Died (Rev. 14:13)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/24/2015 8:47 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                     Focus:  How They Died

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Revelation 14:13

            Message of the verse:  “13 And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, ’Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’" "Yes," says the Spirit, "so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them."”

            As we begin to look at this verse we see that John hears a voice from heaven and this is the sixth time that he has heard a voice from heaven and in the rest of the book he will hear a voice from heaven three more times.  He is told twelve times to write and we remember one time when the seven peals of thunder spoke that he was about to write that he was told not to write what they said.  John is under a divine mandate to record the visions that he saw writes John MacArthur.

            What he is told to write is “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.”  Who is John including or who is God including in this beatitude?  MacArthur writes “This includes martyrs such as Antipas (2:13), t hose seen underneath the heavenly altar (6:9-11), and the ‘great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes…the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb’ (Rev. 7:9, 14).  These martyrs are blessed not only because they lived life to the fullest in obedience and trust, but also because they ‘died in the Lord.’  They will experience in death the fullest reward, because ‘Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones’ (Ps. 116:15).  With Paul, they will be able t cry out triumphantly, ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ (1 Cor. 15:55).”

            So we learn that not only those who have already died in the Lord, but also those future tribulation saints that will die in the Lord will be blessed, comforting them that they have nothing to fear.

            I find it interesting that the Holy Spirit is only quoted here and also in 22:17 where we read “The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.”  Now as we look again at verse thirteen here we see the word “Yes” and then it goes on to say “says the Spirit,” and John MacArthur writes “His emphatic ‘Yes’ ( the Greek particle nai indicates strong affirmation) shows that He agrees with the heavenly voice that the dead are blessed.  As their sustainer and comforter, who loves them is grieved by their pain, the Holy Spirit longs to see that suffering end.  He adds two further reasons for the Tribulation martyrs ‘blessedness.”

            The second reason is that “they may rest from their labors.”  MacArthur adds Kopos describes hard, difficult exhausting toil.  It can also refer to bother, annoyance, or trouble.  Certainly the Tribulation saints will experience the whole gamut of the word’s meanings.”  As we read the tragic things that will happen to people during this time period we can surely understand the pain and suffering and the mourning that these people will go through as they not only suffer, but also their family and friends will suffer greatly.  We can understand how death will be a relief to them as even in today’s world when a person is suffering and they know that they are a believer that they long to leave this world to go to heaven to be with the Lord.  Because these people do not have the mark it will make life very difficult for them and many will lose their lives.

            The last reason for their blessedness that the Holy Spirit gives here is that “their deeds follow with them.”  MacArthur writes “Era (deeds) refers to their service to the Lord.”  I remember many year ago when my wife and I were heading to Chicago to attend Founders Week at the Moody Bible Institute that I was listening to a sermon on the way there.  What the man was talking about was the rewards that people will get when they get to heaven and he made a point that the rewards of Mr. Moody would still be accumulating as his work on earth continued even while he was in heaven.  The Bible teaches us that we will receive rewards for what we have done in the body while here on earth and my belief is that the Lord has certain things for all of us to do and as we faithfully do those things that we will be rewarded for them when we get to heaven.  The Bible also teaches that we can lose our rewards too and so we must be faithful all the way to the end of our lives so we can finish strong so we will not lose any rewards.  Paul writes to his son in the faith, Timothy the following which comes from his second letter to Timothy which is the last letter he wrote and was written shortly before he died:  “7  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8  in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”  What a wonderful thing to write at the end of his life as he did do the things that God wanted him to do, and much of that included suffering for the Lord, but now as his time draws near his death will be a blessing to him as he is ushered into the presence of the Lord.  I have mentioned the rewards that we can get and there are a number of them, but according to 1 Cor. 3:12-15 which states “12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”  We see here that men’s works will be tested and there is a chance that they can be lost as we have already written about.

            MacArthur concludes “The dead who have lived in obedience and trust will be blessed with rest and reward after they die.  Those who live now for wanton pleasures are dead even while they live. (1 Tim. 5:6).  Being ‘dead in [their] trespasses and sins’ (Eph. 2:1), they face the horror of eternal damnation in hell.  The sobering truth is that the choices people make in their life will irreversibly chart the course of their eternal destinies.  A Christless eternity of unrelieved torment or the blissful rest and reward of heaven:  that is the choice faced by every person.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is my desire to finish the race strong like the ones spoken of in this passage and also the example of the apostle Paul.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to better understand the love that the Lord has for me.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Isaac” (Genesis 27:4).

Today’s Bible question:  “Where was the ship planning to go on which Paul suffered shipwreck?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/24/2015 9:35 AM

 

             

How the Tribulation Saints Lived PT-3 (Rev.14:12)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/23/2015 8:42 AM

My Worship Time                                                Focus:  How the Tribulation Saints Lived PT-3

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Revelation 14:12

            Message of the verse:  “12 Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.” 

            As mentioned we are looking at one of the few doctrines that is found in the book of Revelation, the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, or as some have put it the doctrine of eternal security.  We have look in yesterdays SD at two of the five points that this doctrine rests on and today we want to continue to look at points three through five.

            John MacArthur writes “A third proof of the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is that God’s power guarantees it.  God’s power that transforms believers into new creations (2 Cor. 5:17) will sustain them, so that they can never be lost.  In John 10:27-29 Jesus stated emphatically that God’s power keeps believers secure:  ‘My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.’”  I would like to look at a verse or two from the book of Romans and chapter eight:  “35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39  nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:35-39).”  As we are learning it is the power of God that keeps us, and so nothing can separate us from His love for us.

            The fourth proof of the perseverance of the saints is found in Ephesians 2:8-9 which reads “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  We see that it is God’s grace that saves us through the faith that He gives us to believe in Him for the salvation He gives to us.  Paul goes on to say that it is nothing we can do to receive it, as we cannot work for our salvation for it is a gift, however after we are saved as verse ten tells us we do work to show that we are saved, a new child of God:  “10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  Let us look at another verse from 1 Thessalonians 5:23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Paul then goes on to explain how the Thessalonians’ safekeeping would be accomplished in verse 24 “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”

            John MacArthur writes “To argue that saving faith can die, or be lost, contradicts God’s promise, purpose, power, and grace.  Believers have been ‘born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for [them], who are protected by the power of God through faith for a ssalvation ready to be revealed in the last time’ (1 Pet. 1:3-5).”

            Now we come to the part of this doctrine that shows us that we too have a responsibility to preserve too.  Jesus tells us in Matthew 10:22 “"You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”  Next we look at Matthew 24:13 “"But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.”  Barnabas tells the people in Antioch, as he began to encourage them “Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; (Acts 11:23).”  Paul writes to the Romans (God)“6 who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: 7 to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; 8 but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.”  John MacArthur writes “Colossians 1:21-23 clearly reveals God’s part in salvation and man’s responsibility to persevere.”  “21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach- 23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.”  MacArthur continues “Christians are redeemed, ‘although [they] were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds’ because God ‘has now reconciled [them] before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.’  But that does not obviate believers’ responsibility to ‘continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that [they] have heard.’  In a similar vein the author of Hebrews wrote ‘For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end’ (Heb. 3:14).  The apostle John described Christians as overcomers (2:7, 11, 17, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 21, 1 John 5:4-5).

            “Believers persevere faith (1 Pet. 1:5; 1 John 5:4-5), fear (Jer. 32:40), love (Eph. 6:24), obedience (John 8:31), and by turning away from sin (2 Cor. 7:1; cf. Rom. 6:12-14).  All those means are granted by God—who then exhorts believers to manifest them in their lives.  The doctrine of perseverance must not be misconstrued as teaching that believers will be eternally saved regardless of their belief, or behavior.  What it does teach is that, as noted above, true believers will continue in the faith.  Justification will be followed by sanctification that leads to glorification.”

            A question arises as to what happen to those who once professed faith in Christ, but the fell away.  The Bible teaches us that those who do fall away were never saved in the first place.  Judas is surely an example of this as he walked with the Lord for three years and then in the end showed that he never truly believed what the Lord was teaching in his heart, thus he never was a believer.  I have mentioned that people who told me all about the Lord when I was saved in 1974 have later said that we are not into this anymore which tells me that they never were really saved in the first place.  All we have to do is look at Jesus’ parable of the seeds from the gospel of Mark when He gives His disciples the explanation of it in Mark 4:16-20 “16  "In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17  and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. 18  "And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19  but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 “And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."”  In my Spiritual Diaries on the book of Mark I covered this from the one dated March 13, 2012.  Jesus also spoke along these lines in the 15^th chapter of the book of John when He was talking to His disciples about the vine and the branches.  I remember studying about this and listening to a sermon by John MacArthur on this study and he stated that this scene happened right after Judas went out to betray Christ and so this could have been the reason as to why Jesus talked to His disciples about this parable.  Jesus states that He is the vine and believers are connected to Him through the branches, but He also teaches that some of the vines have to be cut off and burned up and this is what MacArthur said were the “Judas branches;” the ones that never were truly believers.  “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us (1 John 2:19).”

            I have never read “Pilgrims Progress,” but have heard some things about it to give me a desire to read it someday or at least listen to it.  At any rate John MacArthur quotes a small portion of this book in his commentary that illustrates the fact that true Christians persevere under trials, while false believers fall away from faith.  Even though this SD is fairly lengthy I have decided to quote this portion of that book.

            “I saw then in my dream, that when CHRISTIAN was got to the borders of the shadow of death, there met him two men, children of them that brought up an evil report of the good land, making hast to go back (Num. 13:32), to whom CHRISTIAN spake as follows:

Chr. Whither are you going?

The two men. They said, ‘Back, back; and we would have you do so too, if either life or peace is prized by you.’

Chr.  ‘Why, what is the matter?’ said CHRISTIAN.

Men. ‘Matter!’ said they; ‘we were going that way as you are going and when as far as we durst; and indeed we were almost past coming back, for had we gone a little further, we had not been here to bring the news to thee.’

Chr.  ‘But what have you met with?’ said CHRISTAN.

Men.  Why, we were almost in the Valley of the Shadow of Death (Psa. 44:19; 107:10); but that by good hap we looked before us and saw the danger before we came to it.

Chr.  ‘But what have you seen?’ said CHRISTIAN.

Men.  Seen! Why the valley itself, which is as dark as pitch.  We also saw there the hobgoblins, satyrs, and dragons of the pit; we heard also in that valley a continual howling and yelling, as of a people under unutterable misery, who there sat bound in affliction and irons; and over that valley hangs the discouraging clouds of confusion; death also doth always spread his wings over it; in a word, it is every whit dreadful, being utterly without order (Job. 3:5; 10:22).

Chr.  Then said CHRISTAI, ‘I perceive not yet, by what you have said, but that this is my way to the desired haven.’

Men.  ‘Be if thy way, we will not choose it for ours.’

So they parted, and CHRISTIAN went on his way; but still with his sword drawn in his hand, for fear lest he should be assaulted.”

Two more things in which I will briefly state that the perseverance of the Tribulation saints will be evident because they will keep the commandments of God.  There is a second reason and that will be though faith in Jesus as verse 12 states.

            MacArthur finishes his comments on this section:  “Why are these faithful dead believers blessed?  Because they lived pure, noble, purposeful, obedient, rich, joyous, exemplary lives.  They live life to the fullest in faith and obedience to God.  Even if there were no heaven, that would still be the best way to live.  But there is heaven to follow this life for God’s people; therefore the deaths of the Tribulation saints will also be eternally blessed.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As things grow more difficult in the country that we live in and as I read about what will happen to those who live in the Tribulation period I pray that my faith will increase to be able to live as these people lived.  I remember a statement that I read in Cory Ten boom’s book “The Hiding Place,” in which her father was talking to her about faith and he said to her “when do I give you the ticket to get on the train?”  She replied “When I am about to get onto the train.”  God does not give us faith today for what we need tomorrow, but gives us faith to live each day, after all He knows what we need and when we need it.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Believe that God will give me the faith that I need for today to live for His glory.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Readiness” (Matthew 25).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘Make me a savory meal, such as I love…that my soul may bless thee before I die?’”

Answer in our next SD.

7/23/2015 10:12 AM